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Nazis In NASA: Wernher von Braun & Operation Paperclip-

Operation Paperclip was a secret US Government operation established to use Nazi-German intelligence -- against Russia in the “Great Space Race”, and eventually against the Soviet Union in what would become dubbed “the cold war”.


Between 1945 and 1959, over 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from Germany, and brought to the United States to harness their knowledge. Using the newly acquired information by the Nazi’s, to develop America's arsenal of biological and chemical weapons and prevent such crucial information from leaking to the Soviet Union -- The secret program was conducted by the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA), and largely carried out by special agents of the U.S. Army's Counterintelligence Corps (CIC).

President Harry Truman officially sanctioned the controversial / covert program and forbade the agency from recruiting any Nazi’s. However, officials of the JIOA and Office of Strategic Services (OSS) didn't follow the directives thoroughly -Instead they proceeded to erasing any incriminating evidence from the scientists' records, got them housing, as well as adequate jobs, and eventually put them in charge of some of NASA’s most promising missions.


From these captured German Scientist was Wernher Von Braun -- Prior to his amazing career at NASA, Von Braun was the director at the Peenemunde Army Research Center, and was well recognized throughout Germany for his V-2 rocket team whose V-2 rocket devastated England during the war.

Once recruited for Paperclip -- Von Braun went on to become very instrumental in the improvement of U.S military technological innovation, and laying the pivotal groundwork for the US to head to the moon. As a result of Von Braun's stellar performance, he rose to the director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, which eventually propelled two dozen American astronauts to the Moon.


-1oddday




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